TNA Impact Preview (Aug. 18, 2016): Completely Broken

TNA Impact is back tonight (Aug. 18, 2016) with the fallout from their live episode last week that saw Bobby Lashley win the King of the Mountain title from James Storm. Here are our five question about Impact tonight:

1) Are the Hardys a broken team now?

Last week, Jeff Hardy seemed to snap after all the abuse he’s taken from his broken brother Matt Hardy. He doled out a ton of twist of fates to the Tribunal as if he were Steve Austin and they were the McMahon family. Then he put himself through a table and professed “I am Brother Nero.”

This could be one of two things. It could be that Jeff is truly broken, that after months of torment from his sibling he’s finally cracked. If that’s the case, we could be getting the Broken Hardyz and they would be a force to reckon with. The other possibility is that Jeff is playing Matt’s game to get the Broken One lulled into a sense of security and then Jeff will strike.

Tonight, we may get a hint at that because Brother Nero and Broken Matt are in a four-way tag team ladder match alongside the BroMans, the Tribunal, and the Helms Dynasty (Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee). The winner gets a shot at the Decay’s tag team titles and maybe a chance to remove Bram’s carcass from their BMW.

Personally, I’m pulling for the Broken Hardyz vs. the Decay in a match at Bound for Glory because there will be a high incidence of madness in that spectacle.

2) Is Jade the last opponent for Gail Kim in her hunt for the title?

About a month ago, Maria Kanellis decreed that the only way that Gail Kim could get a shot at the Knockouts championship is if she successfully defeated everyone in the division. While it sounds like a devious plan, when there’s only four other people in the division, it’s not as bad as it originally seems.

Gail defeated Madison Rayne, then she defeated Allie and Sienna in a handicapped match, and last week, she defeated Marti Bell. Now she will face her toughest test in former champion Jade. These two have great chemistry in the ring and tonight should be another good offering.

If Jade is the final opponent and Gail wins, then she’ll have earned her title shot. If Jade isn’t the final opponent, then they’ll have to introduce someone else who isn’t in the division or bring someone like Rosemary over (which would be an exciting move). We’ll see tonight.

3) Is EC3 going to risk his Bound for Glory main event spot?

Last week, an angry Drew Galloway challenged Ethan Carter to a one on one match where the winner gets to main event Bound for Glory, a spot that Ethan has already earned by winning the BFG Playoffs. Galloway and Carter have had some serious issues with each other since Slammiversary. EC3 has cost Galloway multiple shots at the title, apparently unintentionally but it is not clear.

It would not be in character for Carter to accept the stipulation. When he was a heel, he’d never take some a foolish risk. As a face, he’s been a bit more reckless, but this would be completely out of character. Most likely, Galloway would have to sweeten the pot to get Carter to give up the BFG main event spot. Or if Carter does take it, he’s really going to have to convince us why that makes sense.

4) Does James Storm have a beef?

On Twitter, James Storm tweeted this:

This is concerning his match last week where he lost the King of the Mountain title to Bobby Lashley, who know holds the KOTM title, X Division title, and TNA championship. Brian Hebnar, the referee in that match, responded with this:

In the beginning of the match, Hebnar was getting Jeremy Borash out of the ring and was late to count the pinfall for Storm, who had just hit a quick Last Call Superkick on the TNA champion. That’s the only problem I can imagine Storm having, but we’ll find out from him tonight. Perhaps this will be a slight heel turn for the Cowboy.

5) Is Eddie Edwards feuding with Moose or Mike Bennett... or both?

Two weeks ago, Eddie Edwards attacked Moose when the big man tried to interfere in a match on behalf of the Miracle Mike Bennett. This was retribution for Moose attacking Edwards two weeks in a row during his matches. However last week, backstage Edwards had words with Bennett, blaming him instead. That’s when Bennett made Moose vs. Eddie Edwards for tonight.

If Bennett is the feud for Edwards, eventually Eddie would need to go through Moose. However, I can’t see Moose losing his first legit match. What is more likely is that Bennett will interfere tonight and this will lead to Bennett/Moose vs. The Wolves, with Davey Richards not too far from returning.

TNA Impact airs tonight at 8 EST on Pop TV. Who’s watching?